Budget breakdown

WHAT IT IS: The city of Newton's 2013 budget for the Fire/EMS department. The budget is up from the 2012 adopted budget of $5.01 million and the 2011 budget of $4.4 million.

DEPARTMENT STATS: The city's Fire/EMS department provides fire protection to the cities of Newton and North Newton, as well as the townships of Darlington, Macon and Newton. The department's primary response district for emergency medical services includes the cities of Newton, North Newton, the eastern half of Harvey County, as well as providing ambulance service to the fire districts of Walton and Whitewater. The department provides specialized hazardous materials response for Harvey County and supplies tactical paramedics for the Harvey County Emergency Response Team, which responds to volatile law enforcement situations. The department's anticipated call volume for 2013 is 3,272. The department's response time for Newton is three minutes.

2013 OBJECTIVES: The department continues to deal with changes brought about by health-care reform initiatives and reduced funding from state/federal program providers. A significant portion of the population served by the department is without health-care insurance, and state and federal agencies continue to underfund reimbursements at the local level.

Have a question about a local government budget? Contact us via email at news@thekansan.com, ATTN: Budget breakdown, or call us at 283-1500.